Lobby Wrap: Quebec transit company boosts profile in post-Greyhound world

A Quebec-based regional bus company is looking to raise its profile in the post-Greyhound rural transit landscape.

Keolis is a Quebec-based passenger bus company specializing in intermodal urban transportation for 35 communities between Montreal and the Gaspe. The Orleans Express, the name of the company’s intercity bus, touts itself as the “leading” motor carrier in Quebec and the second largest in the country.

Last week, the company registered Don Boudria to raise the profile of the company with legislators and bureaucrats.

Keolis’ registration was made the same day transportation giant Greyhound announced it was cancelling all of its routes west of Sudbury, Ont. The changes, coming into effect on October 31, are expected to affect two million riders in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and northern B.C.

One route between Vancouver and Seattle, Washington will survive.

Greyhound’s route changes do not affect customers in southern Ontario or Quebec, but there is still transit trouble in La Belle Province. Rural Quebec transit company Autobus Maheux told the CBC financial troubles might force the company to close all its routes except Montreal to Rouyn-Noranda.

Does Keolis hope to close the gap? The company could not be reached for comment so we don’t know for sure, but the timing sure is right.

Especially since the prime minister has asked his Transport Minister Marc Garneau to find solutions following Greyhound’s withdrawal of service from western Canada.

Trudeau calls Greyhound’s move “difficult” for people who live on the Prairies and for those who are already struggling economically.

The prime minister has directed Garneau to work with provinces, communities and Greyhound to see “what paths forward there are.”

July 9-13 updates:

The buzz around cannabis is dying down – for the first time in a long time, no cannabis companies registered to lobby last week. American steel tariffs continue to be a hot topic, with two more firms adding lobbyists to their arsenal as the Canada-U.S. trade war rages on.

There were only 21 registrations last week and only one client organization signed more than one lobbyist – DH Corporation. Earnscliffe had three signings last week, followed by BlueSky and Impact Public Affairs with two. No lobbyist had more than one new client.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. hired Susan Smith of Bluesky Consulting to help them get funding from the Strategic Innovation Fund and/or the Canadian Agricultural Partnership programs. Top of their agenda is lobbying for a boost in pork sales through free trade negotiations with the EU, Japan and China. Border food inspections, nutrition labeling and assorted trade agreements are also included in the registry filing. Smith is a well-connected Liberal.

Canadian Coalition for Construction Steel registered board member Matthew Kronby to communicate with Finance, Global Affairs and the PMO about American steel tariffs. This is the fifth lobbyist the coalition has registered in the last two weeks. Kronby joins Earnscliffe lobbyists Mary Anne Carter, Paul Moen and Sarah Goldfeder and fellow board member Jesse Goldman. The Earnscliffe posse have a broader mandate to lobby more departments about NAFTA, the Comprehensive and Progressives Transpacific Partnership and other trade actions that may impact the steel industry.

Vancouver-based real estate developer WestBank signed Peter Clark of Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates Ltd. to tell government that American tariffs on steel and aluminum are bad for business.

Pachaterrae, a company that is mapping soil function to reduce emissions and improve farmland, signed Edmonton based Heather Mackenzie of Heather Mackenzie Consulting to lobby Agriculture Canada and Environment Canada about carbon offset protocols. Mackenzie ran for the NDP in the last federal election.

New Era Nutrition hires Jeffrey Sterzuk of Prairie Sky Consulting to find funding for the export of their “value added agri-food products” including their SoLo power bar.

Health highlights:

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada hired All Drigola of Impact Public Affairs to get them some Strategic Innovation Fund money for research and to advocate for cardiac-related health issues. They received about $2.2 million in federal funding last year.

Transportation higlights:

Hope Air added a second lobbyist to their growing team. Greg MacEachern of Proof Strateges joins his colleague Marco Vigliotti to get charity exemptions for companies flying low-income Canadians to health care centres under the Air Travellers Security Charge Act.

Of noteDH Corporation hired two lobbyists from Earnscliffe, Velma McColl and Craig Robinson, to get contracts related to IT support and the Canada Student Loans Program. DH Corporation is involved in payments management, collections and credit monitoring.

Communications reports
There were 753 reports filed between July 8-14. Ten reports were issued in 2017 and another 15 date from March to May 2018. The remainder occurred since June.